


I got my angel now

by DaniBee



Series: Goodbye and Hello [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Episode tag for Comic 2.19, Fluff and Feels, M/M, nothing but shameless self-indulgence here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-23 19:07:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6127096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaniBee/pseuds/DaniBee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bitty's not the only one who's more than a little shell-shocked about this whole thing.</p><p>Or: The one where Jack Zimmermann goes from 0 to 100 real quick when it comes to knowing what he wants. And what he wants is Eric Bittle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I got my angel now

**Author's Note:**

> I thought I could help it, but I couldn't help it.

Jack walks into his new apartment in Providence, looks around at the still-unpacked boxes, and ignores them all to head right for the couch. By now his parents would be on the plane, lifting the armrest between them out of the way, trying to get comfortable in their seats as they settle in for an entire flight of gossiping about him and Bittle. _Bitty_.

He can call him Bitty now.

He can also, apparently, do much more exciting things than that. That is, if he hadn’t dreamt that life-changing part of today up.

Had he? Created a fantasy out of too many goodbyes and reminiscences and that strange urgent feeling that he was leaving something vitally important undone?

No. No, those few stolen, too-short moments at the Haus felt real. If they weren’t, his dad wouldn’t have had that smug glow about him, and Jack’s own body wouldn’t still feel electrified, and the phone in his pocket wouldn’t have a Very Important Conversation in the inbox that he needs to figure out how to save and keep forever, stat.

Jack might be a little blind to the obvious, but the moment he had his eyes opened to the value of something, he’ll do anything in the world to keep it close.

Bitty had been so close.

His skin had felt so, so soft under Jack’s hands, almost too delicate and lovely for his rough, calloused fingers, but Bitty had pressed himself closer anyway, nuzzled into his touch, as if he’d spent lifetimes starving for the contact. His eyes still hadn’t lost that look of dazed disbelief, but his body had responded instinctively to Jack, yearning and yielding, and _crisse_ , it had rocked his world to its very core.

_How could he not have known?_

His skin still tingles wonderfully where Bitty had pressed his hands on Jack’s chest, as if Bitty’s warmth had stayed—that's how powerful the sensory echo feels. It had been the same on Bitty’s birthday. Jack had fallen asleep that night with his hand over a once-damp spot on his shirt, his fingers making random patterns on the fabric, seeking out the last traces of the happiest tears he’d ever seen anyone cry. He’d  _hoarded_ those tears, fiercely glad that it was _his_ chest Bitty had chosen to sob joyfully on, and goddammit he’s a complete and utter _imbécile_.

Again, how could he have missed this?!

His frustration at not cluing in sooner sharpened into bitter self-recrimination at the memory of the far-from-happy tears that Bitty hadn’t been able to wipe away fast enough earlier. Jack _hates_ that his ignorance had caused Bitty even a moment of pain, when he could’ve spent all this time making him happy instead, cherishing him, giving him his entire banged-up, taped-together heart if that’s what Bitty wanted, knowing it couldn’t be in safer or gentler hands.

He’s going to do all of it anyway, he resolves, no matter how late he is to the game, no matter what obstacles present themselves. The distance, their schedules, the delicate matter of how and when to take their relationship public—none of those matter in the end, not really. He’s faced seemingly insurmountable odds before, willingly, and for rewards that were far, far less tempting to him than the taste of Bitty’s lips on his, the rightness of him in his arms, and the possibility that someday, he might be a lucky enough bastard to have those things as an everyday part of his life. He’ll do whatever it takes to earn that dazzling someday, and he will never, not for one damn second, ever take a moment with Bitty for granted again.

He soon gets caught up in his head, making plans, considering strategies, and trying to cope with the dawning realization that this might be the most important thing he’ll ever fight for in his life. The need to prove himself by winning the Stanley Cup still burns fierce and feverish inside him, but Jack is stunned, just absolutely stunned, to discover that he has the capacity to want something else even _more_.

Less than twelve hours ago he’d been oblivious to how much he wanted Bitty. Now he’s starting to comprehend that his craving for him might eclipse just about everything else.

It’s fucking _terrifying_.

Jack braces himself for the panic, prepared to breathe through it, thankful that there’s no one here to see. He can sense it looming on the horizon.

But it doesn’t come.

The terror is real in his chest, heavy and dark, a cold awareness that this could so easily end in ruin. He could fuck this up, hurt Bitty, break something indescribably precious just by trying to hold it in his too-rough hands. This really is the most important play of his life—he can’t undo that epiphany—and if he loses…well. He doesn’t know if he can get up from a loss like that. The thought is chilling.

Yet the warmth that Bitty left with him is still there, pushing back against the cold, keeping it from overwhelming Jack. He remembers those strong, graceful hands on his chest, and he can almost feel them settling right at the center, sending out a gentle heat to dispel the chill. He closes his eyes, and _breathes._

He’s still scared. He thinks he might be scared for a long, long time, but if he has Bitty…. If he has Bitty, then—

The phone buzzes in Jack’s pocket, jolting him from his thoughts, and he fumbles hurriedly to get it. His heart leaps because it’s Bitty, and even when he couldn’t possibly know how much Jack needs just a little piece of him that very moment, he’s still coming through for Jack. Messages chime in, one right after the other in classic Bitty style, and they all line up right under the Very Important Conversation that Jack knows by heart by now.

 

_> Just landed in Georgia._

_> I spent the entire flight wondering if I had hallucinated the whole thing, you know. First thing I did was check my phone to read your texts again._

_> It was real.  <3_

_> Don’t you chirp me for still being in shock._

_> You took me by surprise, sweetheart, that’s all._

_> Wait._

_> Is it okay if I call you that? It’s just. I’ve been stopping myself for so long, it still feels so amazing to think that maybe it’s okay to say it out loud after all._

_> But I won’t if you don’t want me to._

 

Jack hurries to reply, because Bitty’s uncertainty is unbearable to him. He knows there are still many questions, discussions they can’t have until they’re face to face. But this, this he can answer now.

 

_< You can call me whatever you want, since I now get to call you my boyfriend in return. Fair warning: not sure anything will be able to top that for a while._

 

He restlessly waits for Bitty’s reply, knowing how besotted his text was, yet unwilling to even try to mask the truth. Bitty deserves to know.

 

_> Jack Laurent Zimmermann, you big romantic dork._

_> That’s another wonderful surprise._

_> I’m looking forward to learning what else is there._

 

Jack smiles and says the first thing, the _constant_ thing, that’s on his mind:

 

_< Just 46 days to go, eh? Then you can see for yourself in person._

 

Bitty’s reply tells him that he’s not the only one counting down the days until his visit to Georgia.

 

_> Feels like forever. But I can wait, now that I know what I’m waiting for._

_> I know it’s gonna be worth it._

 

Jack’s hand clenches tighter around his phone, because that’s the thing, isn’t it? The only real thing that matters, in the end. Yes, going after something he wants _this much_ is bound to be risky, difficult, and terrifying. But he’s not playing the game alone; he’s got the best person he could ever ask for to have his back. And if at the end he gets to have these—sweet text messages that he could stare at for hours, Bitty’s bright and generous affection, and years, hopefully, of keeping each other warm—then it’s all gonna be worth it.

 

_< Yes. It’s absolutely going to be worth it in the end._

 

Then, because he can’t help himself, and because his dad spent about an hour bantering with his mom about the Zimmermann charm, he adds,

 

_< I miss you already._

 

Bitty’s reply comes fast, and Jack basks in the glow it sends throughout his body.

 

_> Oh, Jack, so do I. Only 46 days to go, sweetheart._

 

Forty-six days. Not that long of a wait, when he knows what he’s waiting for. He’ll wait _years_ for another taste of Bitty, but he’s really glad that he won’t have to, and that’s enough, for now. It’s enough.

**Author's Note:**

> This is especially dedicated to those OMGCP bloggers who let random tumblr-less anons drop overwhelmed fangirl feels and squeals into their askbox because without you I wouldn't have survived the already-legendary Updatemageddon of this blessed month of February 2016. I would name each one of you, but I sent like a truly embarrassing amount of asks, so I'm keeping plausible deniability instead. But thank you. <3
> 
> (PS: The music school AU will update as scheduled on the weekend. This was just a short detour back into canon-land, because canon-land is a wonderful place to be right now.)


End file.
